1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical connectors, and more specifically to an axially-compressible electrical connector for use with a hardline coaxial cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hardline coaxial cable is a coaxial cable that has a solid, as opposed to a braided, outer conductor, which may be surrounded by an outer insulative jacket. One such hardline coaxial cable is the QUANTUM REACH® coaxial cable, catalog number QR320, which has a solid aluminum outer conductor and a solid copper clad aluminum inner conductor, and which is manufactured by CommScope Inc., of Hickory, N.C. A popular style of coaxial cable connector is a male, F-type axially-compressible connector. Prior to attaching such a hardline coaxial cable to such a connector, a coaxial cable coring tool is used to remove a predetermined amount of the dielectric material between the inner and outer conductors at a terminating end of the hardline coaxial cable, and to trim the jacket in order to bare the outer conductor a predetermined amount. The end of the outer conductor of the coaxial cable can become deformed while using the coring tool. Such deformation is usually flaring, which is slightly increasing the diameter of the outer conductor, or producing a slight octagonal shape to the end of the outer conductor. Known F-type connectors for such a hardline coaxial cable will sometimes not properly accept insertion of the coaxial cable due to such deformation of the end of the outer conductor.
Known F-type connectors for hardline coaxial cable have a metal sleeve within a housing. When the coaxial cable is inserted into such an F-type connector for attachment thereto, the inner conductor of the coaxial cable fits into the metal sleeve and the outer conductor envelopes the metal sleeve. Traditionally, such sleeves are made from metal in order to have strength. However, the metallic nature of such sleeves disadvantageously alters the characteristic impedance of the connector-coaxial cable combination from its nominal seventy-five (75) ohms. Known F-type connectors also have an insulator around a conductive center contact that holds the center contact to the housing of the connector. Because the sleeve and the insulator of known F-type connectors are made of different materials, the sleeve and the insulator must be separate components, thus disadvantageously increasing the number of components in the connector.
Coaxial cable connectors can be categorized by the action required to complete the attachment and to effect a permanent electrical and mechanical connection and/or seal between components of the connector. One style of connector is a threaded style. Another style of connector is a crimping style. A yet another style of connector is a compression style, which is axially-compressible.
The compression style of connector has a housing comprising at least two large parts, typically with an O-ring seal therebetween, which are axially compressed with a hand tool after the coaxial cable is inserted into the connector. One or more internal components, internal to the housing, are radially displaced toward the outer conductor by the axial compression. The one or more internal components are intended to securely engage and make an electrical connection with the outer conductor, and to engage the outer insulation, or jacket, of the coaxial cable.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a known prior art male, F-type, compression style of connector 100 for use with a coaxial cable having a braided outer conductor, part number GAF-US-11, manufactured by Corning-Gilbert, Inc., of Glendale, Ariz., which performs its intended function well, but which is not intended for use with a coaxial cable having a solid outer conductor.
Compression style connectors that have internal gripping parts that seize the inner and outer conductors are well known. Some compression style connectors also seize the jacket. Known compression style connectors that seize both the outer conductor and the jacket do so substantially simultaneously as the connector is compressed. With such compression style connectors, the cable may disadvantageously have some relative motion with respect to the connector when the jacket gripping part attempts to seize the outer insulation of the coaxial cable. Known prior art compression style connectors that seize two or more portions of the coaxial cable simultaneously are disadvantageously difficult to compress.